A dominant display saw the Gunners beat Conte’s 10 men in a thrilling 3 – 1 victory. Before the game, Mikel Arteta asked fans to ‘raise the roof’ off the Emirates Stadium and they definitely delivered as the atmosphere was electric and definitely helped the players glide to an emphatic victory. Going into this match, there were uncertainties of both Partey and Tierney following early returns from international duty, but both made an appearance in the game. Arteta made two changes to the team who won at Brentford, Captain Martin Ødegaard displacing Fabio Vieira and Oleksandr Zinchenko replacing Tierney.
From the get-go we dominated the game and within two minutes Martinelli had a chance which he was unlucky to not find the back of the net, closely followed by Xhaka hitting the ball just wide. But the Partey (pardon the pun) really got going when a beautiful long distance strike hit the back of the net from our infamous long shot missing Ghanaian, Thomas Partey. However, the beauty of this goal came from a wonderfully slow, paced build up which came from an incredible 21 pass build up on the 20 minute mark. Following the goal, the stadium erupted and Tottenham found it even harder to get back into the game.
However, merely 10 minutes later, Spurs did find their way back into the game after they were gifted a penalty from a typical Gabriel tackle on Richarlison from inside of the penalty box. Kane put the ball in the back of the net after they were awarded the penalty which resulted in a level scoreline at the end of the first half.
It didn’t take long following the restart to reclaim the lead as Saka had a great attempt from distant saved by Lloris, but he couldn’t hold on to the ball, resulting in Jesus managing to get the rebound into the back of the net as Romero fumbled the ball under this own keeper. Jesus looked destined to score a second after a stunning ball from his former Manchester City team mate Zinchenko, but he misplaced the header. This didn’t deter the Gunners, though, as we received another boost from Tottenham following the Emerson Royal sending off. A reckless and stupid challenge on Gabriel Matinelli who was luckily to avoid a serious injury. Martinelli was running back towards his own goal and the foul was completely unnecessary, though it took Anthony Taylor a few minutes to get out his red card after he was advised to have another look at the tackle through VAR.
Xhaka finished the job off after Saka, who was again unlucky to score. Martinelli got down the left side of the box and sent it in for Xhaka who walked into the box and got the shot away from under Lloris. This killed off any hope for the Spurs fans and team as Antonio Conte made 4, that’s right, 4 substitutions to try and salvage from humility. An incredible game which saw the Gunners end Spurs’ unbeaten run, remain at the top of the table, and make a lot of fans very very happy.
It is safe to say that Gabriel Jesus was the boost our squad needed as he has brought his winning mentality to us. Last season, it would have been difficult to find many players with the same level of hunger and determination to pull out a ruthless performance like the one over the weekend. His efforts have paid off, as only Erling Harland has more goal contributions in the Premier League this season (12, versus Jesus’ 8). This match was particularly satisfying as Arsenal fans have been told on Twitter that we are only top of the league because we have faced ‘easy’ fixtures, despite other big 6 teams dropping points against these same ‘easy’ teams. Tottenham have been lucky to pick up points this season despite playing badly, and this match showed the difference between the two teams. Spurs could hardly get a look at the ball before Arsenal regaining possession and preventing any chances for them. Ramsdale, as always, delivered with his shithousery in winding up the opposition fans and Zinchenko’s goal reactions put a smile on all Arsenal fans’ faces. Next up is Bodø/Glimt at the Emirates in our second Europa League fixture of the season on Thursday. The winning formula continues!
And just a reminder, incase you needed it, NORTH LONDON IS RED!!!
Written by: Abby Goodson @_abbygoodson
The Arsenal Therapy Podcast 